An Indiana Jones Adventure

Tropical Storm Alma sure has left some fun weather in the area. Right now I'm sitting on my balcony listening to screaming winds and picturing tomorrow's flight out of here. Ugh. Apparently another depression is forming off the coast of Belize, so I think I may be getting out of here just in time.

Today I had a total Indiana Jones adventure and it was the highlight of my trip. As soon as I boarded our tour van this morning and found it filled with Italians and Belgians, I knew it would be anything but boring. Luckily the three Belgian women spoke some English, so I was able to talk with them throughout the trip. The Italians were certainly an animated bunch! When we introduced ourselves I said I was from Seattle and they all said, "Ahhh! Americano!!" I've never figured out if that is a good or bad exclamation!

Our first stop was Coba. We toured the first group of ruins, then rented bikes to ride the mile or so to Nohoch Mul, the large pyramid. It was amazing! I scaled up quickly, but halfway up stopped to take a photo and then got a bit of vertigo. I took a small sanity break, focused on the steps in front of me, then I was fine. The view from the top was phenomenal and I'm glad it was a cloudy and slightly rainy day. Climbing this in the baking sun would have been murder. Getting down also went much better than I anticipated. Thank you to whoever installed the rope! Maybe my IT band is finally getting healed, because this normally would have thrown the discomfort into high gear.

After Coba, we started the adventure part of our trip with a swim in an underground cenote. Before the swim, we had to wash off and remove suntan lotion and any other "scum". The cave formations are pretty sensitive and they are particular about not affecting them. We descended some narrow stairs and found the water deep enough for diving practice. It was cool but refreshing. After the swim, we took part in a Mayan ritual that wishes good luck and good health to its participants, then trekked through the jungle and saw Spider Monkeys swinging from the trees. Very cool! We arrived at a beautiful lagoon, paired up, and had a brief kayaking excursion that returned us to the start.

From there, we went to PacChen where we suited up in harnesses to rappel and zipline. I can't even tell you how nervous but excited I was to try this! The worst part of the rappel was just getting to the edge, leaning back, and putting all of my weight into the harness. That was a damn freaky feeling, but once I started down, it really was a piece of cake and fun as hell. I may have to start climbing now!

Waiting for the rappel, I saw people coming in on the zipline and that thing freaked me out more than anything. I couldn't believe how fast they were going! Waiting for my turn nearly gave me a seizure, but as usual, the anticipation is far worse than the actual doing, and the zipline was probably my favorite part! We were instructed not to use our little hand brake stick until close to the end, but I got there quicker than I anticipated and I think you can tell in one of the pictures that I'm a little "concerned." Haha!

After the activities, the Mayan village supplied a fantastic lunch of veggie soup, pasta, chicken, and an assortment of tortillas and other things. We hung out at the village for a while and then got to see the pictures that the tour company took while we were out "Indiana Jonesing". The pics were great! One of my favorite parts of the trip has been spending time in little villages like the one we visited today. The living conditions are humbling but the people are amazing. They are all so friendly and welcoming, and the little kids especially like having their picture taken.

On the drive back to Playa del Carmen, one of the Italians decided to hook his phone up to our tour guide's radio and we all laughed over some great 80s music and other funny songs. The Italian said it best: "Music unites!" Language may be a barrier, but it's amazing how many people start singing along to certain songs! Oh, and the Belgium girls all agreed with me: Tom Boonen is the best! Too funny!

This trip has been way beyond my expectations. I absolutely love Mexico and can't wait to return. I also want to venture further south into Honduras and Costa Rica, and then into South America soon. I just pray that my flight gets out of here tomorrow! It's going to be a rough one for sure with all this weather from Alma. The winds are still whipping up out there and it's supposed to get worse tomorrow. Good times!

More pictures from today!

Tulum and a Mexican driving adventure

The remnants of Tropical Storm Alma that hit Nicaragua are now affecting the Yucatan. Last night we had some thunderstorms that disrupted internet, so I didn't get an opportunity to post an update.

I set off early yesterday morning in my shoebox rental car for Tulum, about 30 miles or so south of Playa del Carmen. The drive went well and since I had been on the same road for the Chichen Itza tour, I was a bit familiar with it, which helped. The rental car attendant, Edguardo, also gave me a crash course in Mexican driving.

I wish the US actually adopted more of the rules (or lack thereof) that they have here. The main goal is to keep the most amount of traffic moving. Slower traffic moves to the right side of the road on the shoulder to let faster traffic pass. Of course, since many roads are 2-lane highways with each lane having about a 1/2 lane shoulder, that means cars in both directions need to move to let someone pass. So if you suddenly have oncoming traffic coming at you, move right! The road to Tulum is fairly well traveled, so it certainly wasn't as big an adventure as going further inland. That's when the roads get a bit sketchy.

Tulum was absolutely gorgeous! Iguanas were everywhere and boy did they have fabulous views. The beach area was a Caribbean postcard and it was awe-inspiring. This is one place I would not visit with a tour group. Renting a car and getting there early before the tour buses arrived was fabulous. There were only a handful of people, I was able to take extraordinary pictures, and I could enjoy the sound of the ocean and the quietness of the place. I'm very glad I read a few travel books and got the tip. I had about an hour to enjoy the ruins before bus loads of people showed up. I can't believe how many people descended on the place! I'm so glad I was on my way out when they were all coming in.


I had the best chilaquiles at a little restaurant in Tulum and then spent some time checking out the town and shopping for deals. It's neat to go into all the little shops and look at everything being sold. It rained a few times today, which made the humidity even worse, but it felt refreshing to feel rain.

Once I got back, I visited the Aviary Xaman-Ha and made friends with a pushy little Toucan. He kept pecking at me and trying to get into my backpack, probably for food. I hit the hotel for dinner, watched their nightly dance show, then took some salsa lessons sponsored by the hotel. I certainly don't claim to be a salsa expert, but now I know the basic moves and it's really not too hard to add to it. Who knew salsa was so much fun? I may have to enroll in more dance classes when I get back home.

More pics from Tulum...

Broken car

A few days ago I befriended a couple from Vancouver, BC who were kind enough to invite me along with them on a trip to Coba. They said they had secured a car and would be happy to take me. They picked me up this morning at the hotel and when they pulled up I couldn't believe how tiny and old this car was. I have no idea what it was, but it wasn't very happy. I assumed they were getting a rental, but this car clearly wasn't and I had some doubts about driving in it.

The car got us about 50 miles or so before dying. Luckily we had just passed through a town and weren't too far into the jungle yet, so we walked back and found a guy named Julio who was eager to drive us back to Playa for a generous offering of Pesos. We even gave him a 6-pack of Coke, which seemed to make his day. I'm not sure what they ended up doing with the car, but they said they would take care of it. Unfortunately I got no pictures, and it's probably a good thing we didn't make it to Coba, because I left my memory card in my laptop last night. I would have been one very pissed off chick, so I guess it all worked out in the long run.

I was seriously bummed about Coba so I hit the beach and after a few Dos Equis decided I would call Expedia and extend my trip another two days. I'm leery of driving solo to Coba, so I booked the Mayan Adventure guided tour for Friday. As part of the tour, I get to rappel 65ft into a cenote, do a z-line crossing over another cenote, kayak across a lagoon, have an authentic Mayan lunch, and then visit Coba. This should be fun!

I did decide to make the drive to Tulum in the morning on my own to beat the crowds, so I took the plunge and rented a car. This car looks a bit more reliable, but it's still barely a shoebox on wheels. Everything seems half normal size. Wish me luck on my hour drive to Tulum, though I've been reassured by many it is a much safer drive than to Coba. Now I'm off for ladies night at Senor Frogs!

Chichen Itza and cenote swimming

I departed the hotel at 7am this morning for a guided Chichen Itza tour. We cruised out of Playa and it didn't take long to get away from the resort scene and into real Mexico. The drive to Chichen Itza was about 2.5 hours on mostly narrow two-lane roads through the jungle. We passed through several small towns that had Topas (crazy speed bump things) that required us to slow. Experiencing areas like this always puts things in perspective for me. It's unbelievable some of these communities are so poor.

A few miles before Chichen Itza we were stopped by Federales at a military checkpoint. We had to all get out of the tour van while they checked it for elicit items. It's fun to stand there with men carrying machine guns, hassling people over not having their passports. I had mine so I was safe! After a few more hassles we were back on board and entering Chichen Itza.

I can't even describe how awesome this site is. I've heard lots of people talk about crowds, but there were far less people than I was expecting. When our tour arrived, we were among the first and were able to view a lot of the ruins before other larger groups even showed. The exactness, precision, and detail in some of the ruins is amazing. How the hell the Mayans could build something so extraordinary is beyond me.

Our guide, Gregorio, offered up tons of great information and we spent about two hours touring the ruins. As the day progressed, it definitely got hotter and I became adept at finding shade. At the end of the tour, we were given 45 minutes to browse at our leisure before having lunch. I visited a cenote near the ruins but so many locals were selling gifts at the site that I spent my time with several others haggling and getting some good deals. Meeting and chatting with locals (and attempting to use Spanish) has been really fun.

We left Chichen Itz and headed to the Cenote Dzitnup o X'keken for some swimming. This sidetrip turned out to truly be a memorable experience! The cenote is subterranean and you descend down a set of narrow and slippery stairs to get to it. It was unlike anything I've ever seen before. The roots of a tree growing at the top extend down through a hole all the way to the bottom into this crystal clear water. Swallows flew all around the tree roots in circles. It was really unbelievable. We all hopped into the chilly water for a quick swim, which was refreshing after the heat of Chichen Itza.

After the cenote, we completed the tour by making a quick stop in Valladolid, a beautiful old town with a gorgeous church. Once again we hit the crazy narrow jungle road to head back to Playa. As we slowed for Topas, I took some pictures of the towns we drove through. Overall, this was a most memorable experience and one I won't soon forget. I met some awesome people on the tour, bought some neat artifacts, was humbled by many Mexican towns, and won't soon forget the amazingness of Chichen Itza or the cenote.

Pics from today.
Pics from yesterday!

Dos Equis!

Current drink count:

Margaritas: 3
Dos Equis: 5
Miami Vice: 3
Some weird fruit cocktail thing with a mega hit of alcohol: 1

Today was beach day and this morning I spent a few hours lounging and reading, then hit the town for some browsing and shopping. Met a nice guy named Julio who had iguanas, one of which was the biggest I'd ever seen. He took my picture and then asked me to go to Acapulco. Haha! Everyone here is very nice and outgoing, especially the locals.

I visited a very small Mayan ruin area in Playacar, then rented a jetski and cruised around for about an hour. While I was walking back through town all of a sudden a Policia stopped and said, "Una momento senorita." Talk about a mini heart attack. The Policia here have machine guns, so I was a bit nervous. Turns out he was very friendly and just wanted to check out my tattoo, haha!

We talked for a few minutes and when I told him I had plans to rent a car to drive to Coba, he said, "Caution! Jungle! Tarantula!" Grrrrreat. Apparently the road has tarantula crossings, no shit. I can't wait for this one.

Right now I'm listening to an awesome mariachi band, drinking margarita #4, and watching wild cats run around. Olé!

P.S. How many iguanas can you count in that photo? Hint: The big one I'm holding isn't the only one :)

More pics from today!

Welcome to Playa!

For once I had pretty smooth flights and the time went by much faster than I anticipated. Maybe I'm getting used to this flying thing and finally just don't mind if I die. Landing in Cancun was a trip. There were some big enough air pockets dropping the plane that everyone on board collectively "oooh'd" and "aaah'd". Me? I sat in my chair, lounging, reading a book without a care in the world.

I assumed the plane would fly over the Cancun resort area and land near it. Instead, it descended into jungle. A few feet from the top of the trees I was thinking, "Ok....there IS a landing strip here, right?" The guy next to me even expressed some concern about the existence of an airport. Then suddenly right when I figured we were jungle bait, boom. There's the strip.

I then spent about 45 minutes in line to pass through customs, then another 30 minutes waiting on ground transport to Playa. Another 30-40 minutes for the drive to Playa and then surprise...more time waiting in line for the hotel check-in. I deplaned around 3:30 and finally walked into my room at 6.

The room is crazy huge. I swear it might be bigger than my condo. I have a partial ocean view, and it's really nice. I spent the evening strolling around Quinta Avenida trying to speak and understand Spanish. The atmosphere is very fun and energetic and everyone is trying to get your attention. I do wish I spoke more Spanish, I think it would make the trip much more enjoyable. I had some great enchiladas and Dos Equis for dinner and made friends with a couple from Vancouver, BC who are also staying in my hotel. We met this local guy, Miguel, who promises to hook us up with a cheap car to drive to Tulum later in the week. We'll see how that goes.

I'd love to check out the nightlife tonight, but the 30 minutes of sleep I got last night are killing me, so I'm checking out way early and getting some sleep. Tomorrow I'm hitting the beach.

More pics here!

T-minus 1 day to Mexico!

I fly out Sunday morning for Playa del Carmen and I'm so excited! I can't believe I'm actually going! Here's to Negra Modelo, margaritas, and sun! Maybe this will finally jump start my learning Spanish. I'll be posting some pics and updates while I'm down there, but at $.99/minute for phone calls, no one will be hearing from me.

¡Cuidate!

Peace at last. Now on to Mexico!

I feel like I'm finally at peace with a lot of things that have been happening lately, and it's a relief. The movers finally showed up and my mom is unpacking and settling in. My friend with terminal cancer visited Seattle and is now on her way to Alaska. She's always dreamed of going, so I'm happy that she's able to make the trip. My ex-boyfriend and I had a wonderful night of dinner, drinks, and conversation, and I finally resolved a great many unanswered questions. Maybe we'll be together again, but probably not. And you know what? That's ok, because there are a ton of awesome guys out there, and I enjoy the time I spend with him as friends.

I've had a chance to reacquaint myself with softball, do some mountain biking, and of course, have a few awesome crashes. I misjudged a skinny at the Colonnade Wednesday and crashed pretty hard. Shin armor has got to be the best invention ever, though unfortunately it didn't protect my butt.

Tiger was wet and slick as shit Thursday. I was bombing down a part of Iverson, probably having one of my best rides, when I hit a log at less than a 90-degree angle. It's amazing how quickly you hit the ground when you do something stupid like that. Again, armor is my friend, but I think my thigh and shoulder will be sore for a bit. A guy a little ways back rode up to make sure I was ok. We laughed for a bit, then rode the rest of the way out together. He was very cool, very nice, and hot to boot! We set up a "mountain biking date". How dorky eh? It's about time I hook up with one of these hot mountain bikers. Damn I love Tiger!

I'm counting down the days until I jet to Mexico -- woo! I leave Sunday morning for Playa del Carmen in the Yucatan. I'll be hitting Chichen Itza, Tulum, and a few other Mayan ruins as well as chilling on the beach, getting a tan, and checking out Cozumel. I've wanted to go for so long that I almost can't believe I'm doing it!

Things are settling, life is returning to normal, and it's awesome. I guess a few weeks off can do wonders eh?

My journey into the bell jar

I really haven't blogged much lately because I really only have one thought: wtf is up with the stars aligning against me lately? This might be a lengthy post, so unless you want gory details, just wait a day or two until I post a race report or something. Oh wait, I'm not racing :(

When I have drama, I don't do it on one level, I do it on ALL levels. Over the last few weeks I've had relationship craziness, family drama, friend crises, painful physical therapy, and work breakdowns. Awesome. Where do I even start?

I've learned lots of funny things about love and relationships over the past month. In my mind, I had built up my last relationship to be "the one". When it ended, it took me a long time to get over it. Just this week, over a year after breaking up, I found out that the person who I loved the most in my life never really loved me back. In fact, the entire three years we were together, he led me to believe he felt strongly about me when in fact, he never did. This is a tough pill to swallow, especially when you suddenly find yourself thinking that you are resurrecting the relationship. A good friend of mine said it best. "There's nothing like reopening old wounds and not being able to find a bandaid." How right he was.

There are many reasons I would still like for that relationship to work, but the honest truth is that it was unhealthy, and I have to constantly remind myself. I felt emotionally battered on nearly a daily basis and it continues to baffle me as to why I put myself in that position. There are times when he has treated me with little regard and done things he knew he should not have done. I'm a strong person, so I just can't understand why I would put myself in this position. I guess love is strange, but I deserve much better. It's difficult to cut ties completely because I enjoy having this person in my life. He's genuinely a good person who just needs to resolve a great many issues. At the very least, we're good friends, but it's difficult sometimes. We've set new boundaries, and I won't be taking a venture across them ever again.

In the friend space, I had a very close friend diagnosed with terminal cancer. She refuses to tell us what it is, but only says that she has very little time left. She's refusing treatment and just wants to relax and have a good time. Her attitude is absolutely amazing and I can't believe how positive someone in her position can be. She told me, "I don't want to go anywhere and I don't want to do anything crazy. I just want to be." My thoughts are with her.

Physical therapy is going well, but it's extremely painful and keeping me off the bike, and that doesn't make me a happy camper. I have my third treatment tomorrow and it's getting more bearable, but it's still pretty intense. I'm very excited for the results though, as already I have an increased range of motion and less weirdness in my knee. If I can start running again, f*** relationships, I'm golden! The Boston Marathon may actually start coming back on my radar, but I don't want to get too far ahead of myself yet.

Since PT is making things sore, I can't do but a light spin on the bike now, so I'm out for racing Wenatchee this weekend. I'm not even disappointed. Wenatchee was supposed to be my A-race this year, but I'm not in shape anyway. At this point, I'll be happy to make it to Methow in June and be in shape for crit season and cross. There is a mountain bike race this weekend, so maybe I can give that a go. We'll see how the leg feels this weekend.

All of the drama the last month came to a head and I woke up one day and thought, "I'm quitting my job. I'm quitting relationships. I'm quitting everything. I'm going to set my hours, work from home, do whatever, just relax and get away from stress everywhere." That idea manifested itself into an email to my boss saying I was resigning effective immediately. It felt great. Then a few hours later I freaked out. Yes, my job is stressful, but I really do enjoy it. I love the people I work with and I love the work I do. One of these days I would like to have my own business or something, but for now, this is good.

I talked with my work, who was nearly as shocked as I was about the email, and they are letting me take the rest of the month off, which is a welcome opportunity to detox, relax, and get myself together. I got the Ducati running last night, and took her out for a spin today in the beautiful weather. Motorcycles sure are therapeutic in wonderful ways. I'm not really sure what happened over the past few days, but I think I may have had a complete meltdown on many levels. It's really not like me. I'm always brave, confident, and sure of myself, and lately I've been doubtful, unconfident, and insecure. What's up with that?

I blame it on the relationship. For three years I dealt with crap that took me six months of therapy to get over. Then I tried to reopen it all. It's amazing how damaging that shit can be. Then lump on my friend's cancer, my mom moving here, the painful physical therapy, and doubt and insecurity about my ability to meet anyone cool and I guess it adds up to one big breakdown.

My therapy? I'm taking the rest of the month off and I booked that damn vacation I've been wanting to take forever. F*** the last boyfriend for rejecting my repeated offers of an all expenses paid trip to Hawaii. Who the hell would do that? I'm hitting Playa del Carmen in the Yucatan for 4 days of therapy, sun, lounging, and relaxation. I'm finally seeing Chichen Itza. I'm finally going to Mexico. I'm finally taking a trip all by myself to regain my confidence, security, and ability to kick some ass. I'm tired of postponing my plans waiting for that perfect guy to come along. And when I get back, my friend will be having the time of her life, I'll have an awesome time at work, and I'll meet the coolest guy in the world. Cha-ching!

Here we go again

Today I had my first appointment at Therapeutic Associates. This is my third attempt at alleviating the ITBS I've endured for almost three years. This time for some reason, I feel confident it'll be resolved. I started seeing a new doctor at the UW Med Center who has much more aggressive treatment options. I had an MRI that only showed patellar tendonitis and a very inflammed IT band, so at least nothing else was horribly wrong. He's starting me on a 6-week PT program, and if I don't see improvement, then we'll move on to blood injections and some other things.

The PT today consisted of ASTYM, which was excruciating to say the least. The therapist basically "scraped" my entire right leg with plastic instruments. It is supposed to break up any scar tissue that has formed and encourage healing. It felt very bumpy and gravelly and areas over my IT band were the most painful. I do have some mild bruising tonight and my leg feels like it's been beaten by a 2x4. Good times.

Afterwards I got an ultrasound and a thorough icing. I also have a set of prescribed strengthening and stretching exercises that will aid in healing. The therapy will continue twice a week for the next few weeks. Even though it supposedly gets easier, I'm certainly not looking forward to the next time. I've since read a lot about ASTYM and it seems very productive, so I'm really stoked to see if this finally gets rid of the ITBS. Running again seems like a dream to me!

I need a vacation!

I'm happy a long Memorial Day weekend is soon to come because it's been a crazy few weeks! My mom is accepting a job offer today, so she's really excited and it's great news for her. She'll be working in Bellevue about a half-mile from where I work, so now we can get together for lunch from time to time. She also found an apartment in Woodinville. Ironically, it's the same apartment complex I lived in when I first moved here 8 years ago.

Things are coming together for her and I know she's relieved. It's been very stressful for both of us to not have our own space and be living on couches and out of suitcases. The animal circus hasn't helped either! Hopefully she'll be moving into her new place in a few days and her furniture will be here soon.

Unfortunately I'm 0 for 2 on races lately. Sunday at 4am the fire alarm went off in my condo building and the Seattle Fire Department couldn't reset it. From 4am until shortly after 5 we were all sitting in the lobby, listening to fire alarms, and watching very hot firemen walk the hallways. One of the 3rd floor residents said, "Hey! Should we get Margaritas? Firemen party anyone?" The lack of sleep killed my Longbranch plans, so now I'm shooting to open up the road season with Ravensdale this Saturday. Third time is a charm, right?